The Dark Horse
by Wiipuu
Summary: In a race anything can happen, and with the all other horses out of the running the unexpected dark horse comes in. To bad its just Neal. After all, no one was betting on him.
1. Chapter 1

Neal sat alone in his room with a dark grimace smeared on his handsome face as he thought about his most recent failure. She rejected him again. And again. And again.

It infuriated him to no end.

"Young Master Neal?" A butler said from the other side of the door.

Breaking his thoughts Neal turned away from the window he had been glaring at for the past hour and asked "What?"

The butler opened the door and replied "Your mother is calling."

He winced before sighing. It had to be his sister again.

Whatever.

He got up aggressively before roughly pushing past his butler . The old man staggered a bit but wasn't to surprised. His master had been very testy lately. To be honest though, Master Neal had always been a little prick in his opinion.

The man almost pitied the boy. He never stood a chance with a mother like that and with his only friend being that psychopath of a twin. The girl that the boy wanted would never give her heart to him. Mostly because the boy would never realize he had to earn it.

Yes, the butler almost pitied Neal as he watched his retreating form disappear into the darkness of the mansions halls. But, he also couldn't help that the bitter anger from years of disrespect cruelty negated that pity.

"Rotten Brat." he said under his breath.

* * *

 _I had to write this before the inspiration left me. I am probably going to finish it today. Chapters will be short. I am liking the drabble format._


	2. Chapter 2

Neal had stopped listening to his mother and sister about a few words in the conversation. It was the same boring trash they always spewed.

"It will bring shame to the family."

"She is a worthless orphan."

"Neal, dear, look at these other girls. Now, don't you think this looks much better than a dirty stable girl?"

They just drilled on and on and on and on and on. Eventually His mother got up and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her.

"Neal.." she said in a motherly tone "Are you listening?"

Then he cracked again. Usually Neal was a coward but lately he had been finding a lot of courage in his anger. So, with a hearty and irritated scream, Neal pushed his mother away from him and stormed out of the room slamming the door behind him.

Why couldn't they understand? Why was this so hard to understand?

He loved her. He always loved her. How many times did he have to repeat that before anyone got it?

Tomorrow he will go to the pony house. Tomorrow he will propose again. On his knees if he had to. He wouldn't stop till he got what he wanted.

He was a rotten brat after all.


	3. Chapter 3

Neal couldn't actually wait for the next day to come so he drove right down the bumpy dirt roads all the way to the Pony House in the middle of the night. She had to be there. His face twisted up darkly as it came into view. Everyone would be asleep at this time. If he was to noisy everyone would wake up. He had no plans to be quiet though.

His car skidded to a halt in front of the little orphanage. Then he stuck his head out of the car window and screamed out her name over and over while honking his horn frantically. Eventually every light in the house lit up and kids peeked their heads through the window to see what all the commotion was.

Then he saw her. Candy. She looked... beautiful. She looked... absolutely pissed.

"Neal!" She screamed back in a voice full of anger, "What do you think you are doing!"

He felt himself melting at her call. He didn't hear her irritation. He couldn't see the rage lacing her eyes. There was only her calling his name. Looking at him.

"Candy." He started a little mystified with a voice that was to low for her to hear. So upon noticing this he shook his head and he cleared his throat before he tried again a few hundred decimals louder, "Candy! Get down here!"

"What!" She yelled.

"Just get down here!"

"No Neal! Go away! Do you have any idea what time it is?!"

"Candy!"

The sisters came out and tried to ask him to leave but he wouldn't budge. Eventually Candy ran down the stairs and got right in his face. The kids that fallowed behind her made rude gestures and threats.

"Neal, go home." She said.

"Candy... Candy, I really do love you." he said desperately.

Candy stopped and looked at Neal. There was an edge to it that had always been there. A coldness that threatened to come out if she didn't comply.

"Neal." She said matter of factually, "I will never love you. Please understand that I can't"

She expected him to cry. She expected him to shake. But, she didn't expect his laughter.

"I know. I know and I do not care." Neal said in an empty voice. He then leaned over and grabbed her shoulders. She shook them roughly and slipped away only to have them grabbed again more harshly. The kids were oddly silent when this happened, drawn into the conflict like it was some kind of play.

"I will never give up. I will never stop. There is only you."

After this he pushed her and sped away in his car. He considered this a good night, because he got the chance to see her. That was good enough for now. If only for today.


	4. Chapter 4

"Marry me."

He did it. After a massive amount of struggling Neal managed to force himself to get down on his knees for her. She has to agree now he assumed. But, even with these confident thoughts, the silence dragged on in the streets. It was awkward. After a few more beads of sweat dropped down his brow he looked up.

She wasn't there. Neal jumped up whipping his head around till he found her halfway down the block. A sudden cold anger turned his world red.

"How dare she." he whispered darkly. Neal brought his hands up to his hair and pulled it so hard he grunted in pain. "Candy." Unconsciously he slowly took a few steps in her general direction. His thoughts were less than kind; less than pure.

"Boy. People are not objects."

The voice behind him seemed to make his world freeze as a sudden fear took him. It wasn't aggressive, it wasn't even demanding, but instead; familiar. After taking a second to compose himself Neal Turned around to look at the face of William Albert Adley. He shuddered and backed away a bit.

"H-hello Lord William."

"You cannot force her Neal. No one can force her to do anything."

Neal looked away a little irritated despite his fear of the powerful man who acted like this was news to him.

Everyone was against this. He was probably going to tell him to leave her alone. Everyone tells him that. The anger that shot through Neal was enough to blind him as he snapped. This was enough to break what little self control the boy had as he sent a fist flying into Williams face.

The mans face jerked backward as his glasses few off and hit the ground. William winced and let out a small grunt. He planned to hit Neal back but stopped after taking another look in his eyes.

Behind the rage he saw something dark and hallow. It was enough to make him question himself as his mind went blank for a moment. Even though he had never truly met Neal he had heard about him from Candy. He was a lost cause. But still, the thing the boy asked him next caused to consider the other side of the fence a little more.

"Lord William." Neal started in a voice that was raw and a little to honest. "Tell me what to do."

Even Neal was shocked at his words. They seemed to slip out without his consent. This made him uncomfortable and afraid. So he did what he always did when he was afraid. He ran.

Or at least he tried to. William captured him and pulled him back to take a deeper look into Neal's eyes. The man was surprised to see even more than before. Something so broken by his family and the world of the wealth that he had no idea how to mend it. But, more importantly, in those eyes he saw an animal.

'An animal huh?' William thought sarcastically; a smile breaking though the irony.

"Why?" The man suddenly asked Neal.

Neal sneered "I love her."

"Do you really?"

"Yes."

William laughed lightly. It might be to late for the boy, but, maybe he would help.

Because, why not?

That was a bad question to ask himself because a thousand reasons to answer it sprung up. Enough to make his face blanch at the stupidity of the idea. But still.

Really, Why not?

After this William knocked Neal out. He had always liked betting on the dark horse. It was ,after all, his reason for adopting Candy. Leaning over, William picked up his glasses and took Neal home.

* * *

 _Whoa. People read this. The show is so old that I honestly didnt expect any kind of fan base lel. Thanks._


	5. Chapter 5

It was the middle of the night. The moonlight was a pale glow tracing the edges of the dark shadows inside of Neal's over sized bedroom. Eventually the moon had risen high enough to cast its light over his eyes. Slowly they opened as he stirred from his sleep.

His cheek was bruised and it stung him aggressively. He placed his hand over it in an attempt sooth the pain. Neal was never good with pain. Because of this he often made an effort to avoid it. But, due to his terrible nature, he often found himself at the brunt end of someones fist.

He sighed deeply as he draped his legs over the edge of his bed. Then he leaned over and lite the candle on his bed stand he noticed a letter on a beautiful gold leaf china plate waiting for him. Neal carefully lifted up the letter to see who it was from. His eyebrows twisted into a confused scowl upon noticing that it lacked a name and address. He quickly turned it over and gasped.

There was a wax seal claiming it as something from the Adley household. He set the letter back down for a moment as he dug out a letter opener from his drawer. After this he sat back down and opened it.

The letter inside began with the basic noble draw that any invitation had but at the end of it was written in a different more casual tone.

Dear Neal Leagan,

You have been invited to a private ball in celebration of Sir Wiliam Albert Adley's daughter Candice White Adley. It will be held on the third of June at his estate in Chicago. We truly hope you will attend and will be privileged to greet you upon your arrival.

Sincerly, William Albert Adley

 _Ps: Hey Neal. Please do not inform your mother or sister of this party. It might sound cruel but they make things harder. Don't make me regret this. Thanks._

"Seriously?" Neal whispered in surprise before laughing as he stuffed the invitation in his jacket. June third would be next weekend so he had to book a hotel soon. If Neal honestly thought about it, he really knew nothing about Lord William, but at this point he was willing to do just about anything.

Something warm built up in him at the idea of going to her party. But, something dark crept up on that honest warmness as he thought of all the things he could do to get her to look at him. He couldn't help what he was after all. Still, maybe he would behave this time, maybe he would behave if only for that day.

* * *

 _Thank you all for reading this, it makes me happy to know there are so many people that love Neal. I am going to try and improve the quality of writing from now on since I now know people are interested in the story. I will update often. Seriously thank you :)_


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